Ogun State government yesterday said households in rural areas across the 20 Local Government Areas of the state will be benefiting from the distribution of the three million federal government’s free insecticide nets (ITNs), which commences 31st October this year under its year 2024 ITNs Mass Campaign Programme.
The ITNs campaign, which also principally captured pregnant women and children under five years, is being executed in collaboration with the Society for Family Health (SFH), the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), as well as the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) among other malaria partners as part of the continued efforts towards eliminating the scourge and makes Nigeria the third malaria-free country in Africa.
Speaking at the one-day 2024 ITN Mass Campaign Media Orientation and seminar held in Abeokuta, the state capital, SFH’s Project Director and Team Lead, ITN Distribution in Ogun state, John Ocholi, explained that the campaign will be executed in a double-phase approach, beginning with the households’ mobilisation across the 20 LGAs and ending with the fixed-point net distribution.
According to him, Ogun State has the lowest percentage in terms of the usage of Insecticides Treated Nets, which he said stood at 30 per cent in Nigeria, emphasising that the federal government, as well as the Global Fund Malaria Project, are keenly desirous of ensuring that Nigeria joins countries like Egypt and Cape Verde among others, that are now declared malaria-free countries.
Stressing that the campaign’s principal objective is to ensure that “for every two persons, there is a bed net to sleep inside,” Ocholi emphasised that 1,400 distribution centres have been designated for the ITNs, which commence by November 19th, 2024, after October 31st, signalling the capture of the benefitting households statewide.
He also listed six Local Government Areas, Ewekoro, Ifo, Odeda, Obafemi—Owode, Sagamu, and Ado—Odó/Ota, as centres where households are encouraged to deposit their damaged and old nets.
Ocholi, however, enjoined households in the state to ensure that any member was available to provide information to the household mobilisers during the 7-day campaign period.
